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Hercules took its Hold on us at first sip: it’s sweet and sharp with Belgian malts and Candi sugars aged in oak barrels for three months.

Aroma: Dried fruit resting on a malty backbone

Taste: The beer has had a couple of doses of Brett in the brewing (farmhouse yeast, and in a beer blended in before the barrel ageing), so it has some sweet and sharp flavours you wouldn’t normally expect a Scotch Ale.

Verdict: We’ve seen Hercules Hold referred to variously as a Scotch or Belgian ale, a confusion that must surely be the natural result of a really unique beer. But no matter what you call it, it’s is a treat.

Food Pairing: Try it with blue cheese for a salty-sweet flavour combo.

Taking its name a version of poker, this light-bodied Black IPA is drinkable and balanced with roasted dark malts and citrusy Simcoe and Centennial hops.

Look: Clear and dark with nice amount of lacing with a creamy beige head.

Aroma: Roasted malt well balanced with light citrus interludes

Taste: Malt, charcoal, grapefruit and pine, combined well in an easy drinking beer with a nice dry finish.

Food Pairing: This beer works well with smoky, spicy flavours. Try it with Mexican food, or a paella made with chorizo.

Verdict: Bastard Brag’s full back story includes being initially brewed as batch 333, inspired by the version of poker favoured at the By The Horns brewery – in which three 3’s is the strongest hand – and this is a full house of an IPA.

The idea for this beer was to create a blend inspired by dark Belgian wood-aged sour beers, based on the character of a few unique and long-term aged beers in the barrel store. The barrel-aged beers were selected for their aroma and acidity. After blending the beer was returned to barrels for another 3 months (in red wine barrels which part of the original blend was drawn, plus some bourbon barrels which previously housed Acid Jam). A small addition of seasonal British fruit was added to some of the barrels. The fruit additions total ~75g/L in the overall blend, consisting of 40% cherries and 60% blackcurrants.

The resulting beer has a gorgeous oak character with prominent red wine tannin influence, bramble & berries and a fruity acidity on the palate. Of course there’s a complexity too, and our tasting notes pick up floral notes, almonds, umami and a delicate funkiness the brettanomyces.